Mercerizing machine



Spt. 6, 1932. BOSSHARD 1,875,984

MERGERIZING MACHINE Original Filed June 28, 1926 Patented Sept. 6, 1932UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE} ARNOLD BOSSHARD, F ARBON, SWITZERLAND,ASSIGNOR TO SIR/JAMES FARMER NOR- TON & COMPANY LIMITED, 01 LANCASHIRE,ENGLAND, A BRITISH COMPANY MERCERIZING MACHINE Original applicationfiled June 28, "1926, Serial No. 119,137, and in Germany July 3, 1925.Divided and this application filed January 24, 1928. Serial No. 249,052.

same being realized and attained by means of the instrumentalities andcombinations pointed out in the appended claims.

The invention consists in the novel parts,

constructions, arrangements, combinations and improvements herein shownand described.

The accompanying drawing, referred to herein and constituting a parthereof, illustrates one embodiment of the invention, and together withthe description, serves to explain the principles of the invention.

Of the drawing Fig. 1 is a vertical section of the machine embodyingmyinvention along line 1f1 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 2 is a plan view of Fig. 1 in which the fabric is partly omitted.

The present application is a division of my copending application Ser.No. 119,137, filed June 28, 1926.

The invention is directed to providing a mercerizing machine containinimprovements in the apparatus for steeping the fabric whereby a morerapid and at the same time a more thorough impregnation of themercerizing liquid is obtained; an improved mechanism for tensioning andstretching the fabric after steeping which is readily adapted for givingexactly the proper amount of stretching to fabrics differing widely intheir qualities and textures; and to a washing and rinsing mechanism incombinationwith the steeping and stretching devices which is adapted toquickly and completely remove excess amounts of mercerizingliquid fromthe steeped fabric without, shrinking or dis-.

torting-the cloth j v v v With the hitherto known manner of mer-,cerizing woven fabrics lye of the same concentration and temperaturehas been used in different compartments of the steeping apparatus. Froma storage tank for the cooled lye the latter is caused to flowsimultaneously to the single compartments in such a quantity that acertain surplus quantity flows back into the storage tank, in which thelye is continuously kept at the same concentration and at a constant 10Wtemperature so that owing to the excess quantities in the differentcompartments in which the treatment is effected the concentration andtemperature of the lye are constant. It is known that fabrics are onlygradually saturated when brought into contact with cold and concentratedlye so that a certain time elapses until a fabric is completelysaturated with soda lye. Therefore, an impregnation of the fabric cannotoccur in the first compartment and the following compartment unless thetreatment were prolongated in an inadmissible manner. Therefore one hadto be satisfied with a partial saturation in the first compartments anda complete impregnation occurred only in'the last compartment of suchapparatus. A good and uniform mercerizing effect could not be obtainedby working in this known manner. 1

This drawback is overcome with the mercerizing machine according to thepresent invention in which the fabric is completely impregnated with thelye in the first compartment by utilizing in this compartment a weakerlye having a higher temperature, which lye impregnates the fabricquickly as is known, and by utilizing in the further compartments andsteps of treatments lye of gradually higher concentration and lowertemperature.

Another feature of the chainless mercer-. izing machine according to thepresent in-' vention is the means for effecting the stretch-.

ing of the fabric.

In the known chainlessmercerizing ma-,

chines, the-breadth stretching of thefabric against. its shrinkageowing, to the preceding.

saturation with soda lye for the purpose of producing the mercerizingeffect is carried outby means of breadth stretchingdevices which for themost part consist of curved roll ers or cylinders ridged on theperiphery or provided with helical grooves rising in opposite directionstowards both ends, the said rollers or cylinders being arrangedtransversely to the fabric, straight or in a curve,

and one behind the other.

Such breadth stretching devices only to a small extent impart to thefabric a simultaneous longitudinal stretching, which is likewiseextremely important for the mercerizing effect, and even the breadthstretching action leaves something to be desired in consequence of theslipperiness of the saturated fabric. For each kind of fabric there is aquite definite degree of adhesion of the fab ric to the periphery of thebreadth stretching cylinders or rollers. This, however, in the case of aparticular construction of the breadth stretching device is only presentat any time for one particular kind of fabric which is just especiallyadapted to this construction, so that the chainless mercerizing machinescan as a rule only impart satisfac-' torily to quite a definite fabricthe desired mercerizing effect, while for all other goods of thinner orthicker, closer or looser quality they produce more or less poorresults.

With the machine according to the present invention the abovedefect isremedied by interposing between the steeping apparatus and the breadthstretching apparatus for the fabric an adjustable longitudinaltensioning device. The latter renders it possible to adjust accuratelythe adhesion of the goods to J the cylinder or roller peripheries of thespreading apparatus, which is required for the correct spreading actionfor eaCh kind of fabric, by suitable regulation of the longitudinaltension of the goods, and thereby to obtain in each instance the bestaction of the stretching apparatus and consequently the best mercerizingefiect for the kind of goods in question.

A further feature of the chainless mercerizing machine according to thepresent invention is the stretching, washing and rinsingapparatus inwhich the washing liquid is led in a counter-flow to the fabricv to bewashedso that the liquid which contains the largest percentage of thewashed out lye treatment tank constructed as a Washing box in which casethe entire breadth holding apparatus lies in the treatment liquid withthe material. already been brought into action by spraying the fabric onboth sides, the entire, breadth holding apparatus being enclosed imatreat- Further the washing liquid has ment trough. This spraying processhas also been employed on the counter-current principle, the treatmenttrough which receives the treatment liquid being separated intocompartments located one behind the other, out of which the usedtreatment liquid is taken forwardly in series, and the treatment liquidflowing away from the last por tion of the stretching apparatus beingsupplied to the immediately preceding part of the stretching apparatus,and so forth.

With the chainless mercerizing machine forming the subject matter of thepresent invention the apparatus for washing comprises a chest in whichthe fabric is subjected to a steam treatment and passes through variouscompartments in succession in which it is washed; the washing waterbeing sprayed to the fabric after it leaves the chest and flows from onecompartment in the chest to the next by means of over-flow crests. Incombination with this steam chest a breadth stretching apparatus isprovided in which the rollers are submerged in the washing liquid,baflle plates being arranged to provide for a tortuous path of theWashing liquid which flows on the countercurernt principle towards theend at which the fabric enters the apparatus. The washing liquid is thuscaused to intimately contact with the fabric which moves in the oppositedirection so that a very perfect washing effect is obtained.

The foregoing general description, and the appended detailed descriptionas well, are explanatory and exemplary of the invention, but are notrestrictive thereof.

Referring now in detail to the embodiment of the invention, illustratedby way of example in the accompanying drawing, the fabric to.be treatedis shown in'Fig. 1 by the thick full line 1. The fabric, which passes-through the machine in the direction indicated by the arrows A at theentrance end and B at the exit end, enters first the steep ing apparatuscomposed in the example shown of two units Qand 3. The fabric is ledover a guide roller 4: into a vessel or compartment 5 in whichit passesaround a guide roller 6 submerged in the mercerizing liquid, i. e. sodalye, contained in the compartment 5; thereupon it passes between a largeroller 7 and a squeezing roller 8, whereby the mercerizng liquid issqueezed out, into the next compartment 9 containing lye, around a submerged guide roller 10, over a guide roller 11, between the guide roller12 and the squeezin guide roller 13 into the unit 3 of the steepingmechanism. This unit i's'constructed' similarly to the unit 2 and thesame reference numerals are applied to its parts as in the roller 8 andfrom there over a.

case of the unit 2 with the exception of the f two compartments which/are designated by driven from the main shaft 16 by the interposition ofthe transmission gearings 17, 18 and operates with a gear wheel 24 fixedon the shaft 25 of the roller 7 by means of the intermediate gear wheel23. The connection between the train of gear wheels of the unit 2 andthe main driving shaft 16 is effected by means of the conical pulleys 26and 27, belt 28 and counter-shaft 29.

The concentrated and cooled lye is supplied from any source, forinstancefrom a storage tank, by. means of the pipe 30 to the compartment 15,from where it flows over the partition wall 31' into the compartment 14,thence through pipe 32 into the compartment 9 and over the partitionwall 33 into the compartment 5 from where it is led off by the pipe 34.The highest concentration and the lowest temperature of the lye is thusin the compartment 15; the concentration gradually decreasing and thetemperature increasing in the compartments 14, 9 and 5, so that in thelatter the soda lye will have the lowest concentration and the highesttemperature. Thereby the novel effect is attained that the fabric iswell saturated with lye in the first compartment as the highertemperature and lower concentration of the lye in this compartmentensures a ready saturation. The lye is squeezed out of the fabric afterit has left the first compartment and the fabric is saturated in thenext compartment with a more concentrated lye having a lowertemperature, which lye is again squeezed out and so on until in the lastcompartment saturation with lye of the highest concentration and of thelowest temperature is obtained and the mercerizing effect is completed.Obviously the steeping apparatus may comprise more than two units. Bythis method of gradualfgmercerization a better mercerizing effect. aconsiderablessaving in concentrated cooled mercerizing liquid and intime is obtained. As the consumption of concentrated, highly cooled lyeoccurs solely in the last compartment only small quantities of such lyeare required so that only a small amount of the lye need be artificiallycooled to obtain the desired mercerizin'g efi'ect.

Obviously instead of having only one storage tank from which theconcentrated and cooled lye is fed to the last compartment of thesteeping apparatus and instead of letting the lye flow by gravity-intothe preceding compart nents whereby its concentration and temperatureadjust itself a separate storage tank for each compartment may beprovided in which tanks lye of different strength and temperature isstored and led to the respective compartment of the steeping apparatus.

means well known per se.

. After the web of the fabric has left the roller 12 of the unit 3 ofthe steeping apparatus it is led to a variably positionable longitudinaltensioning device 35. The latter comprises two stationary guidingrollers 36 and 37 and a guiding roller 38 rotatably mounted at its endin guide blocks 39 which are displaceable along guides 40 provided inthe frame of the device 35. The guide blocks are influenced by weights41 connected to the former by pulling organs 42 passing over guidepulleys 43. The webpassing over the guiding rollers 36, 38 and 37 isthereby subjected to a longitudinal stretching effect.

This stretching effect can be adjusted by varying the load '41 accordingto the nature of the fabric and to the nature of the subsequent breadthstretching apparatus in order to attain the desired efiect. By the aidof this variable longitudinal tensioning apparatus the mercerizingmachine admits of being adapted easily and conveniently to any type offabric so as to attain the best ultimate effect. Obviously thelongitudinal tension may be produced by any other The tensioning bymeans of weights is advantageous inas- 7 much as it adapts itselfautomatically during working to the various working conditions andthereby maintains the longitudinal I tension, once determined uniformduring working.

The fabric leaving the longitudinal stretching device passes thereaftertothe breadth stretching and washing apparatus. The breadth stretchingapparatus illustrated comprises a plurality-of curved stretching rollersof the known type which are subdivided in the running direction of theweb of fabric into two sets arranged at different heights. The first setcomprises five rollers 44 which are in driving connection with eachother by the gear wheels 45 provided at their ends and the gear wheels45 are driven from shafts 46 and 47 provided with gear wheels 48 and 49respectively which are in mesh with 7 some of the gear wheels 45.

The second set of curved stretching rollers comprises eight rollers 50arranged in a treatment tank 51. The rollers 50 are in operativeconnection with each other by means of gear wheels 52 and the latter aredriven by gear wheels 53 and 54 on the shafts 55 and 56 respectively.The shafts 46, 47, 55 and 56 are rotated from the main driving shaft 16through the interposition of the conical pulleys 57, 58, belt 59,countershaft 60, chain wheels 61 and chains 62, 63 and 64.

Baffle plates 65 are provided in the treat-' ment tank 51 in order toprovide a tortuous path for the washing liquid which is thereby causedto flow in an opposite direction to that in which the fabric moves andin close contact with the latter so that an effective washing isobtained...

upper guide rollers 68 and a "set of lower guide rollers 69 mountedinside a chest 70 and over which the fabric passes. The lower rollers 69are separated from each other by partition walls 71 whereby differentcompartments 72 are formed, the upper rollers 68 are mounted at the sameelevation in the steam space of the chest 70. From the last of the lowerrollers 69 the fabric passes between the squeezing rollers 73 and 74,the upper one of which is loaded by the weight 75 through theintermediary of a system of levers 76. 77 denotes a pipe for supplyingwater for washing purposes which is sprayed on the fabric before itpasses between the squeezing rollers, and 7 8 is a pipe for supplyingsteam to the chest 70. The rollers 68 are rotated from the countershaftby means of the conical pulley 79, belt 81, and belt pulley 80 fixed tothe shaft 82 of the roller 68 and a" train of chain wheels 83 and chains84.

The partition walls 71 are of different heights so that the washingliquid which is supplied by the pipe 77 flows from the last compartment72 over the partition wall 71 into the next compartment andso on untilthe last compartment from where the liquid enters the treatment tank 51containing the breadth stretching rollers. VVithinthe'tank 51 thewashing liquid is caused by the baflled plates to flow in intimatecontact with the fabric but in opposite direction to that in which thefabric moves, until the washing liquid is discharged through the pipe85. The difference in the liquid levels inside the chest and in thetreatment tank 51 is caused by the'pressure of the steam admitted intothe chest 70.

As the washing liquid flows into the apparatus from the pipe 77 at theend at which the fabric leaves the apparatus it is apparent that thewashing liquid in the last compartment 72 will contain the least portionof the washed out mercerizing liquid. This percentage of mercerizingliquid will gradually increase in the preceding compartment 72 of thechest and the highest percentage will be present at the beginning of thetreatment tank 51 where the washing liquid is dis charged. The washingefl'ect issuflicientl'y gradual in order not to impair the mercerizingeffect in certain goods.

The invention in its broader aspects is not limited to the specificmechanism shown and described but departures may be made there- 'OQ fromwithin the scope of the accompanying breadth stretching and washingapparatus comprising a treatment tank, a plurahty of breadth stretchingrollers of the curved type in said tank at two different heights, 2.plurality of baifles provided in said tank and mterposed betweenadjacent rollers of the same height, some of the baflles extending fromthe bottom of the tank upwards and others from the top downwards, andmeans to supply washing fluid to said end of the tank at which thefabric passing over said breadth stretching rollers leaves the tank, andd scharge means for the superfluous washing fluid at the opposite end ofthe tank, said baffles providing for a tortuous path of the washingliquid in intimate contact with and I in counter-flow to the movingfabric and means for maintaining the level of the liquid above the upperrollers.

2. In a chainless mercerlzing machine, in

combination, a steeping tank, means for moving a 'web of fabric throughsaid tank, a washing tank, means for moving the steeped fabric throughthe washing tank, means for passing washing fluid through the washingtank counter to the movement of the fabric, a plurality of breadthstretching rollers of the curved type in the washing tank for stretchingthe fabric in width, and means for maintaining the level of the washingfluid in the tank above said stretching rollers, so that the fabric willremain immersed while being stretched and washed.

3. In a chainless mercerizing machine, in combination, a steeping tank,means for moving a web of fabric through said tank, a washing tank,means for moving the'steeped fabric through the washing tank, means forpassing washing fluid through the washing tank counter to the movementof the fabric, a plurality of breadth stretchin rollers of the curvedtype positioned at different levels in thewashing tank for stretchingthe fabric in width, and means for maintaining the level of the washingfluid in the tank above all of said stretching rollers, so that the fabric will remain immersed while being stretched and washed.

In testimony whereof, Ihave signed my name to this specification.

ARNOLD BOSSI-IARD.

1.- In a chainless mercerizing machine, a

